Prayers/thoughts for Frankie today – purrty please, Home, visit update

LizzieInTexas

LizzieInTexas

Member Since 2016
Completely OT – but this is my home.

Frankie is going for his surgical consultation for FHO today. I am supposed to give 100mg of Gabapentin two hours prior to his appointment. I am very nervous about giving this to him (afraid of adverse side effects). IDK why, it is unrealistic but my anxiety is through the roof.

On top of that, this is my wild child. He is obstinate and wild like a feral cat when confined and worse when confined and stressed. I warned the hospital yesterday when they called to confirm the appointment that they needed to mark his chart with a big “A” because he was definitely going to be a challenge for them.

I hope the surgeon can exam him, but I do have the x-rays and have also included a thumdrive with pictures and videos of him sitting, walking, jumping and playing so she can see him in his home environment.

If he is a candidate, I then have to address this same issue (wild cat) with his recovery. I am thinking of a large crate or enclosure to keep him confined and prevent the running/jumping (and stairs, we have a two story house). He may have to spend at least two weeks confined (and possibly drugged) to keep him calm.

Frankie’s appointment is at 9:30a (curbside only) and my goal is to be ready to walk out the door at 7:30a when I give him his Gaba JIC things go south.

Attached are his x-rays and a couple of him sitting (you can see he sits with one hip higher? than the other).

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And just a good picture of him I took the other day. My beautiful boy.
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Sending lots of positive vibes and calmness. You are a wonderful bean taking care of him and trying help him be pain free. Hang in there - he's so lucky to have you :bighug:
 
Thoughts and Prayers :bighug: for a promising consult!! Frankie is beautiful.

Has anyone mentioned the option of the micro Total Hip Replacement instead of the FHO? I was talking with an Otho surgeon at my local U last February about joint replacement advancements in cats and dogs. I am going to attach some link some some basic info:

https://www.globalvetspecialists.org/micro-hip-cfx

https://www.texvetpets.org/article/total-hip-replacements-for-cats-and-small-dogs/

http://files.constantcontact.com/83...-4243-8d18-ee2bd2f8f7f3.pdf?ver=1481663316000

One families story about their experience. It mentions cost from Purdue. Every facility will be different but good to know :)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.he...om/blog/2018/11/05/feline-hip-replacement/amp

Again, best with today appointment!!
 
Thank you all :bighug:

Gaba is on board with Frankie and Xanax on board with mama :joyful:

Thanks @Butters & Lyla for your input on giving the Gaba a week or so ago, this was why I was asking. He gobbled it right up mixed in with his favorite Tiki Mosse with zero issues.

@Tomlin
Thank you for the reading material. It will give me something to do as I sit in the car while he is being examined. I am going to see which Dr. H recommends today (if any). Frankie does not limp or appear to have any pain issues, but we all know how well they mask pain :rolleyes:. He has no restrictions in movement and does not limp (jumping, running, running/climbing to the top of his 7' cat tree and climbing stairs), but does walk with a hunched back and stiff back legs.

I believe that Blue Pearl does both FHO and THR and I have other options also - there is Gulf Coast and TAMU School of Veterinarian. BP is the closest and it is where the internist is that saw Gizmo, but don't rule out any. I would trust all of them. I just want to address this while he is young (he is 20 months old) and don't want him in pain from it as he ages or gets arthritis.

Will be leaving here in about 40 min and will post an update once I am home.
 
I had a Maine Coon years ago who had hip dysplasia in one hip but it never required surgery.
It was discovered while doing an X-ray for another issue. I thought my vet was joking because I had multiple hip restorative surgeries to fix dysplasia:D

UPenn has done extensive research and advanced testing for hip dysplasia with a specific technique to better access the dysplasia. It requires sedation but allows them to check for soft tissue laxity. When a dog or cat is awake (same with humans) muscles are able to guard which results in an unstable joint with laxity appear to be more stable than it really is.

UPenn sold the testing to Antech & it’s now called
AIS PennHIP. They do use the technique with cats. There are vets trained in the PennHIP assessment technique. I believe a vet is still able to send the assessment (imaging) to Penn for review.
(https://antechimagingservices.com/antechweb/pennhip)

You could also reach out to Penn directly to inquire about the process.

Here is a recent article about the assessment, treatment options and UPenn specific assessment vs OFA:

https://www.catwatchnewsletter.com/health/cats-hide-signs-of-hip-dysplasia/

Hope this helps!
 
We are back home. Surgeon specialist was not able to do a complete physical exam without sedating and given the pictures, x-rays and videos she does not think that it is not causing excessive (if any) pain at this time. FHO and THR is what she called "procedure of last resort" meaning if the issue is causing a quality of life issues we should address it but, for now, especially given his behavior issues being a BIG factor in his recovery and the fact that he is jumping 4-6' easily, not limping or favoring the leg while playing/walking/running we should not proceed with any surgical procedures.

She did give me a 3 days supply of Gaba (100mg ea) and wants him to take every 8 hours along with Onsior 6mg 1/day (any info much appreciated). My understanding is Onsior is an anti-inflamitory. She wants to do a trial and see if being on these does anything to subdue his behavior issues with the thought of pain control being a possibility of the behavior issues (neither of us really think pain is the cause of the behavior issues). She also wants more video of him walking, video to be taken from behind him while he is walking forward and up the stairs.

She gave me her email address and once I have the video and after the trial of Gaba and Onsior I am to email her and let her know how it went and provide links to the videos.

We will have another set of x-rays done at his 2 year check up/bloodwork (he has to be sedated for that anyways) and she will review with Dr. Rogers (primary vet) and determine if the dysplasia is the same or worse. That will be sometime next summer.

So, the next steps is trying to get to the behaviorist vet and get him on some meds to address his mental issues - not making light of it, but he needs some sort of meds to address his bad and obsessive behaviors (and despite how much Daisy has help, another kitten is NOT the answer despite what hubby says - lol).

Thank you all for being my support system. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. :bighug::bighug:
 
Frankie and you have my prayers < I hope he does very well poor baby . Your right another cat will only make it worse I have a mischievous cat too and he wants to play all the time the other cats are not so obsessive like my Jojo and he drives the other cats crazy ...l So much they hide from Jojo poor baby onky want s to play but Salems a sick kitty and Jojo doesnt understand whats going on. And Jojo goes around a night meowing keeping u all up and Im the one thats got to keep him quiet while the others sleep . I wanna sleep too Im so tired during the day . Im trying to keep everyone happy but mamas not happy, I hope things work out well for you and Poor Frankie ! Good Luck ?
 
Best with the trial :bighug:. Hopefully he is as lucky as my Maine Coon was & it never causes an issue requiring surgery :). I also hope the behaviorist is able to help out :).
 
The biggest caveat for Onsior (besides it being an NSAID) is the max 3 day limit, even lists that on the manufacturers website. But you should have a good idea if pain relief work by then.
 
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Hi Lizzie, I think your vet is very wise to be cautious and to watch for the time being. I agree that it is not a great idea to rush into an operation when other routes can be tried. Frankie is such a handsome guy.
Thinking of you and sending lots of vines for Frankie's pain to recede.
:bighug::bighug::bighug: for you and scritches for Frankie.

p.s. One of my hips is higher than the other. I have successfully ignored it all my life!
 
Thought I would give y'all an update on Onsior (and for future reference in case someone does a search). I started it this morning (yesterday was too crazy and I was out of the house almost all day). Per the vet, it is supposed to be a quick dissolve tab. It is a small (maybe 1/8"), round tablet and it comes in a blister pack. Per vet, it can be added to food as long as kitty eats all of the food it is mixed with. So.. This morning I put it on top of his Tiki mousse and added a couple drops of warm water thinking it will dissolve and then I would just mix it in with the food. It didn't dissolve. It was still whole when Frankie got to the bottom of the bowl. But, it didn't matter, because he managed to lick it up and chew it! It is suppose to have chicken liver "flavor" but no matter, he ate it, but it never did get soft or dissolve. Lesson learned - I will put it in the bottom and add the water and smash it with a spoon to "help" it along.

The 100mg of Gaba is too much every 8 hours. He almost fell off the 7' cat tree last night. I am going to give ever 12 hours for the remainder of the trial.

I am beyond ecstatic that no surgery was recommended. I just don't want him in pain, but I am not seeing any difference in his gait or walking/running (yet) from the meds and he as never shown any behavior to indicate that he might be in pain. I mainly wanted to address 1) before he got any older and 2) before we consulted with the behaviorist vet to eliminate the possibility that pain was causing the behavior (which I have NEVER thought it was).

I will update further if I see any side effects and/or benefits from the Onsior.
 
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